Display-card holder.



B. S. WRIGHT.

DISPLAY CARD HOLDER.

APPLICATION F |LED DEC-16. 1914.

' Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

I m W INVEI'VTOR yamm @WmM ATTORNEYS ill i W iuummlllllu BENJAMIN S. WRIGHT, 0F MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

' DISPLAY-CARD HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Application filed December 16, 1914. Serial No. 877,459.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN S. WRIGHT,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Display-Card Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My'present invention relates generally to holder of the kind referred to for removably for instance as those containing advertising or other matter, and more particularly the invention relates to a new and improved holder of the kind referred to for removably supporting advertising or similar cards upon store counters, show-cases and the like.-

A principal object of theinvention is to provide a display-card holder of the character stated, that will be extremely simple in construction, cheap to manufacture and effective in its combined operation when asso ciated with the object to be supported and displayed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder of the class described that will not only be neat and attractive in appearance, but which may be made relatively small as compared to the dimensions ofthe card or object to be supported thereby; and a holder that will securely support the card edgewise in an upright position and prevent accidental displacement of the card relative to its holder.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a holder with simple means for facilitating insertion of the display card edgewise therein, and with additional means for securely retaining the card after insertion.

Other more or less important objects will appear from a' reading of the detailed description to follow.

Briefly and generally stated theinvention comprises a member of heavy material having a relatively deep and narrow kerf or slit opening through the upper'face thereof adapted to receive and securely retain a display card arranged edgewise therein.

. The invention further comprises in combination, a relatively thin and light card of compressible material, such as paper or paper-board, and a holder therefor consisting of a member of heavy material having a relatively deep kerf or slit extending across the upper face thereof, at least a portion of said kerfor slit being of less width than the thickness of the card, so that when the card is inserted edgewise in the kerf or slit the walls bounding the narrower portion thereof will tightly embrace and compress the card and thus attach the parts together and securely retain the card in an upright position.

I will now proceed to describe the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which;

Figure 1, is a perspective view showing the holder with a display card supported thereby. Fig. 2, is a top plan view of the holder member on a slightly enlarged scale as compared to the showing in Fig. 1. Fig.

. transverse section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, 1s a topplan view of a holder made in accordance with the invention wherein the card-embracing portion of the holder extends throughout the entire length of the slit or kerf, and Fig. 6, is an e'nd\yiew of the holder shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes the holder memberproper, which, in. the present instance, is shown as having the form of a substantially fiat plate or circular disk of relatively small diameter and of substantial thickness, but obviously, the holder may be made of some other shape, although I prefer to make it circular for reasons presently to appear.

The under face 2 of the holder disk is preferably made fiat so that it may rest squarely upon a counter or a show-case as illustrated in Fig. 1, and the upper face 3 is also shown as presenting a fiat or plane surface, although this is not essential. I may, if. desired, attachto the under surface 2 of the holder, a disk of some suitable soft the disk'simply rests upon and is freely movable about upon its support.

The holder member is preferably made of metal so that it will have sufficient weight to properly support edgewise and in a vertical or upright position an advertising or display card 5 of considerable size or dimen-' sions as compared to the size of the, holder. Amy suitable metal may be employed, but I prefer to use a relatively soft but somewhat yieldable or springy metal such as brass which is heavy, that is, it has a high specific gravity, or a suitable alloy that may be readily stamped, out, or turned and cut to shape in order that the holders may be made easily and at small cost.

A card receiving or retaining slit or kerf 6 is formed in the upper face 3 of the holder,

said slit or kerf being of considerable depth as compared with its width and extending entirely across the upper face of and opening through the edge wall 7 of the holder at diametrically opposite points. The slit or kerf extends almost entirely through the disk member 1 leaving a relatively thin "web 8 connecting the two semi-cylindrical portions of the disk. This web 8 being somewhat springy or yieldable allows the opposite side walls bounding the slit or kerf to yield slightly during. the operation of inserting the display card 5 edgewise therein, and also serves to hold the said walls in firm clamping engagement with the opposite faces of the display card when the latter is in position between the walls.

In order to facilitate. ready insertion of the advertising or display card 5 into the slit or kerf 6, the card-entering end or portion thereof is made slightly wider than the card-gripping or embracing portion 9 which latter is of less width than the thickness of the card. This card-entering portion may be arranged to one or both ends 10 of the slit or kerf as more clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6.

The card gripping or embracing portion 9, in the form of device illustrated in Figs.

2, 3 and 4, is made by having the opposite walls of the kerf or slit at some point in the length thereof and preferably at a point intermediate its ends, arranged so close to each a other that the space therebetween will be of less width than the thickness of the display card, so that when the latter is drawn or forced longitudinally edgewise therebetween,

the card will be compressed or jammed so tightly between the walls as to securely cons nect the holder to the card. I

As before stated, one or both 'ends of the slit or kerf may be made wider than the thickness of the card in order to facilitate ready insertion thereof and while I have shown both ends of the slit or kerf widened, I do notwish to be limited specifically to this construction. Nor do I wish to be understood as limiting myself to the card-embracing portion as being arranged at a certain point only in the length of the slit or kerf.

I may, instead of the arrangement just referred to, employ the construction illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, wherein the card gripping or embracing portion 9 is shown as extending throughout the entire length of the slit or kerf 6 In these figures of the drawing the reference character 1, designates the disk-shaped holder, 2, the bottom face thereof, and 8 the thin yeildable, that is, flexible connecting web between the two semtcylindrical portions of the disk formed as a result of the slit or kerf 6". In this form of the device, the'card-entering portion of the slit or kerf is arranged at the opposite ends of the latter, such portion being provided as a result of the slit 0r kerf being made wider at the base or adjacent the web 8, than at the top or where it opens through the upper face of the disk.

In'both forms of device illustrated, the slit or kerf may be conveniently formed by making a cut or incision of uniform width extending throughout its length and by then causing the walls of the cut or incision at the upper face of the disk, along a portion of, or throughout the whole length of, the cut or incision, to be brought closer together than at the base. This may be accomplished by a blow or impact imparted to the upper face of the two semi-cylindrical portions of the disk, causing the metal to flow inward, or by bending the two portions upward as in Figs. 5 and 6.

. I have found from practical experience that card holders made according to my invention and having about the size of a. five cent piece or a silver quarter of United States currency but of slightly greater thickness than these money pieces, are admirably suited for securely holding display cards of considerable size, and inasmuch as holders of this size are small, they are not at all unsightly, in fact hardly noticeable, but at the same time they are sufficiently heavy to carry or support the cards.

I prefer to make the holders in the form of a circular disk because when made in this shape, a considerable suppl thereof may be conveniently carried in t e pocket or satchel of an advertising man or sales agent to be distributed by him along with the display cards when calling upon his trade.

When arranging and combining the parts, namely, the holder and the display card, as shown and described herein, there is no danger of the display card accidentally falling out of the slit or kerf when once properly inserted therein, because the walls opposite the narrow portion of. the said slit or kerf firmly compress and in fact actually embed themselves in the opposite faces of the card to such an extent as to securely connect the parts together. v

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction of holder member and its slit or kerf as herein shown and described, except as I may be limited by the appended claims, as I am aware that slight variations may be made in the structure without departing from the real spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a holder for display cards comprising a substantially disk-shaped member having a high specific gravity, the bottom of which is substantially-flat whereby the member may rest unattached to and be freely movable upon a supporting surface, said member having a relatively narrow slit formed therein and opening through the upper face thereof, said slit being bounded by oppositely disposed walls, portions of which, at the upper face of the said member, more closely ap proach each other than other portions, whereby a display card inserted edgewise in said slit will be gripped by the said walls.

2. A display device consisting of a relatively' thin and heavy metal plate, the bottom of which is substantially flat, whereby said plate may rest unattached to and be freely movable'upon a supporting surface, and said plate having a slit opening through the upper face thereof, said slit being bounded by opposed rigid walls having card gripping edges, and a display card of com pressible material having an edge portion inserted in said slit, the width of the slit at the upper face of the plate being less than the thickness of the card, whereby the material of the card will be compressed between and gripped by the said gripping edges of the walls to secure the card to the plate.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a holder for display cards comprising a disk of a heavy metal having a relatively narrow slit extending entirely across the upper face and almost entirely through the thickness thereof, leaving a thin flexible connecting web between the two portions of the disk separated by the said slit, and the said slit having a card entering portion and a card gripping portion, the said gripping portion being of less'width than the card entering portion. Y

4. As a new article of manufacture, a holder for display cards comprising a diskshaped member having a relatively. narrow slit extending entirely across the upper face and almost entirely through the thickness thereof, leaving a thin yieldable connecting web between the two portions of the disk separated by the said slit, opposite walls of the slit or kerf converging toward the upper face of the disk whereby to provide gripping portions to embrace opposite faces of a display card inserted edgewise between the walls of the slit.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set BENJAMIN S. WRIGHT.

Witnesses: we

RICHARD J. BOYLAN, J. It. CUMMINGS. 

